A Florida judge called both Apple and Google's Motorola Mobility out in court, saying that neither of them really wants to resolve these patent matters.

U.S. District Judge Robert Scola -- a federal judge in Miami, Florida -- said that Apple and Motorola Mobility are wasting the court's time with patent infringement lawsuits that they have no intention of solving.

“The parties have no interest in efficiently and expeditiously resolving this dispute; they instead are using this and similar litigation worldwide as a business strategy that appears to have no end,” said Judge Scola. “That is not a proper use of this court.”

Judge Scola's main issue is that Apple and Motorola Mobility currently have over 180 claims regarding 12 patents and are arguing over the meaning of over 100 terms.

“Without a hint of irony, the parties now ask the court to mop up a mess they made by holding a hearing to reduce the size and complexity of the case,” wrote Judge Scola. “The court declines this invitation.”

The court has given Apple and Motorola Mobility four months to narrow the case down, and if they fail to do so, the case will be put on hold until all disputes over terms are resolved.

Apple and Motorola Mobility have been tossing patent infringement lawsuits around since 2010. Many see these cases as a way of struggling for market share and pushing the competitor's products out rather than attempting to solve real issues.

I would put that as Novell. They sued various companies over UNIX IP that it turned out that Novell didn't invent AND didn't even own! Other companies invented the IP in question in the suit. Other companies owned the IP in question in the suit.

I would even put RAMBUS as worse than Apple. The list goes on.

Whether you or I agree with Apple's assertion that they invented anything or not, at least they legally own the IP. (The issued patents are in Apple's name or legally transferred to Apple.)

And, as has been noted on these threads before, Reuters (no friend to Apple!) published a well researched study that showed in about 60% of the IP related suits Apple was the defendant or counter suing party, not the instigator.

AND, where has this judge been all his life? Lawsuits (legitimate or not) or threats of lawsuits (legitimate or not) has been a "business practice" of medium to large corporations for well over 100 years. It's just that it has gotten completely out of hand in the last couple of decades.

quote: I would put that as Novell. They sued various companies over UNIX IP that it turned out that Novell didn't invent AND didn't even own! Other companies invented the IP in question in the suit. Other companies owned the IP in question in the suit.

Um, you seemed a bit confused here.

SCO claimed ownership of their UNIX thus wanting to sue users of Linux like IBM for copyright violations of "stolen" code, but Novell never fully transferred all ownership rights of it when they sold it to them. Novell themselves bought the rights to it many years ago.